It's an Odd Neighborhood
by SerenityWritesSlash
Summary: AU. When Joey Wheeler starts off his law classes at the much esteemed Millenium University, he does not expect to be towed into a crazy, random world that is the campus. Between the oddballs he shares a dorm with, teachers acting like children, and a grumpy music professor who seems to make his heart stop, Joey's sure to have an insane amount of fun.
1. In which, Joey enrolls

**The following story includes: Puppyshipping, hints of Puzzleshipping, cracktastic cameos, Téa dating a humanized Kuriboh, Yami in a tutu, alcohol use, vomitting on carpets, and a few swear words.**

**And without further ado, I wish you luck! And I hope you enjoy the story.**

* * *

The residents at Millenium University were all a little odd. Any stranger to the campus would immidiately know something was weird, to say the least. The first tip off was, of course, the dean himself, with his platinum coloured hair and his giggly voice. He went by 'Pegasus', of all things. It was often said that students found him in his office watching episodes of The Looney Tunes. The weirdest rumour he'd ever been associted with was the one where he apparently kidnapped a student's soul.

Another thing about the university was it's staff; a janitor who looked like a zombie roamed the halls at night, the history teacher who threw textbooks at his students and had an awkward speech impediment, and half the professors sounded like they faked their teacing degree. The history teacher, who the students called 'Dartz', also seemed to dye his hair every other day, and he seemed to be in a love-hate relationship with the tech-buisness professor. One of the professors wore an American flag as a bandanna, and only taught his students about the Boston Tea party in every class; then he gave them all A+ grades because the A stood for America. Another professor was no older than the students himself, but he was a prodigy or whatever, so he got away with teaching music. The biology professor happened to have a large pair of assets, and seduced she the students quite unintentionally.

Then there were the students.

Needless to say, the women on campus were quite odd. There was a freshman who had a voice squeakier than a chew toy, makeshift cheerleaders who flocked to the attrative men, and one junior who never stopped making friendship speeches.

As for the males, well, they were all strange. There was a couple of philosophy majors who stole a pair of leather pants from a young man who claimed to an Egyptian Phraoah, a gambling sex-addict who called himself 'Duke', a man who declared his voice gave him superpowers and that Zack and Cody were his imaginary friends, and then there was Joey.

Joey's story begins at this weird place, standing in the admission office and tapping his foot. Both hands in his pockets, the Brooklyn raised man let out an annoyed huff. He had been waiting for a long while, and was beginning to feel tired. The secretary finally gave him his schedule, room key, and number. As Joey turned to leave the office, the glass door swung open.

"ISHIZU!" a tanned young man wailed, stomping his foot. "The Pharaoh stole his pants back!"

"This is the eighteenth time. It will not be the last." The secretary spoke to the man calmly, like he wasn't insane. Joey just stared at him, blankly.

"And what's your name?" suddenly, violet eyes were piercing into him. "I'm Marik!"

"Nyeh? I'm Joey..." he mumbled, wanting desprately to avoid the creepy guy.

"You've got to be new! Come on, let me show you around!" Marik snaked an arm around Joey's neck, tugging him out the door. "Hey! Bakura!" Marik unintentionally yelled in Joey's ear. "Get your pale, limey ass over here!"

An albino with a large mane of white hair spun around, glaring daggers at the man leaning on Joey's shoulder. "What on earth could be so bloody important that you had to drag me away from this?"

Joey glanced over the British man's shoulder, trying to see what 'this' was, exactly. It turned out that there, right in the middle of the building's hallway, men where playing strip poker.

"Aw, come on, dog!" a brunet whined, pushing his poker chips away. "I'll be in my shorts if I take another hit!" He sounded like a rap artist- a white rap artist.

"Jaden," a calm, deep voice came from a man with strange spiked hair. "That's the object."

"Yusei!" 'Jaden' rolled his eyes, "Dude, that shit ain't right."

Before Joey got to watch them finish their conversation, Marik hauled him off in the other direction. "Bakura, let's make him one of our minions! I mean, he seems like a good Steve."

"My name's not Steve," Joey began to say, but was cut off.

"Why don't you let the poor bloke go, Marik? It's his first day, you can torment him later." Bakura (or whatever his name was) said. Joey shot him a grateful look, but almost regretted it, seeing as this guy's face was stuck in an unbreakable scowl.

"'Kay!" Marik chirped, letting go of Joey's neck and latching onto Bakura's. "Onward, fluffy!"

Bakura rolled his eyes, but scooped Marik into a piggy-back nonetheless. Joey watched them walk away, then turned his attention back to finding his room. He was lucky enough to scored a single dorm room, thank god, and tried his best to follow the map that was printed on the back of his schedule.

The second he stepped out of the office building doors, a familiar set of white hair whizzed by him. Bakura? How had he moved so fast? Joey furrowed his brows, before he realised that it wasn't Bakura, but a smaller, wide eyed, and much cuter looking version of him.

"MELVIN, YOU ABSOLUTE WANKER, STOP THIS THING!" the cute-Bakura cried, flailing his arms. He had a higher voice than the man Joey had encountered a few minutes ago, but there was still British accent. Maybe they were related.

Suddenly, another familiar looking person rushed by. Except, this one looked like Marik- only his hair stuck up in crazy angles, like a fucking pinapple or something. Joey watched the crazy-haired guy run for cute-Bakura, who was actually struggling on rollerblades, of all things.

"Ryou! Try and keep balance!" the Marik look-alike screetched, running for the Bakura look-alike. Joey didn't bother watching them run off, instead focusing back on his dorm. He could faintly hear the sound of the cute-Bakura screaming something along the lines of 'what do you think I'm doing you git?'.

It was safe to say Joey was slightly weirded out. As he continued his walk to the dorm, he realised it would be faster if he walked through one of the buildings. Stepping inside, Joey wondered if this was the right decision. His sense of direction had failed him in the past, and he wasn't so sure he wanted it to happen again.

All anxiety was tossed into the wind when he noticed a boy flying through the air.

"HOLY FUCK!"

Joey leapt out of the way, the boy barely missing him. He quickly knelt down at the stranger's side. "Nyeh, are you okay?!"

The stranger sat up, seemingly unfazed. His eyes were wild, his chin-length green hair fell neatly around his face. "Excuse me, would you like this tooth? I do not care for it."

The stranger then spat out one of his teeth, holding it up to Joey's nose with a completely stoic expression. Joey was too shocked to respond, and didn't even bother stopping the strange man from taking his hand and placing the tooth in it, folding his fingers around it as if he were wrapping a gift. The green haired man got up, brushed himself off, and started to walk away. Joey stared blankly at his hand, before he dropped the tooth and rubbed his palm on his jeans to get rid of the moist feeling. When he looked up, the flying man was gone.

"What the hell is wrong with this joint?" Joey asked himself, getting to his feet. He started down the hall again, glancing down at his map every now and again. The blond was just looking up whe he saw something. Or someone.

"Run, Forrest, run!" a strange voiced, tall, brown haired man with a quiff shrieked, directing it to a more attractive man at his side. The shorter of the pair looked like he belonged in a magazine, with his long, ebony hair tied up into a perfect pony-tail, his green eyes wide with an emotion Joey was all too familliar with: stark terror.

"Tristan, will you stop making quotes for two seconds of your life and hurry up?!" the attractive one yelled, just as he brushed by Joey. The one with the pointy quiff followed, apologising lightly as he bumped Joey's shoulder.

And then there were women. Never before had Joey seen so many girls huddled together, running at top speed. It was a miracle they all rushed right past him, as he stared ahead with wide eyes, pressing his papers onto his chest. It was like the sea of females never ended, but he wanted out of it. Not that he didn't enjoy the sight of these ladies, no, it was quite the contrary. It was the sound of their squeals, however. If Joey didn't know any better, he would say they were yelling bloody murder.

Before he could think of a plan to get away from the crowd, Joey found himself being pressed back. They were actually moving him! Pushed farther away from his destination, Joey let out a shrill 'Nyeh!' as he was lost in the neverending stampede. Somehow, they managed to get him down an entire flight of stairs! He couldn't take it any more- with all the force he had, Joey jumped to his left, praying there was something much better behind that door. After almost getting swept away again, he violently closed the door behind him, slamming his shoulders against it for support.

As he took gasps of air, trying to figure out how he got stuck in that riot, he could make out the faintest sound. Ears still ringing, Joey took deep breaths, focusing on whatever and wherever that sound was coming from. After a moment, he realised it was a piano.

That's when he noticed where he was. Chairs lined up in rows like a church or a movie theatre, the soft melody of that piano, a stage; he was in an auditorium.

Deciding he might as well look around, Joey headed down the steps and towards the stage. He had been right about the piano, he could see someone playing it. As Joey stepped closer, he made out the details of the mystery musician.

Pale skin, nimble fingers, an undoubtedly handsome face with brown hair falling neatly around it, and bangs getting in the way of his blue eyes. Joey stared, mesmerised with the fact someone could look so focused and kind of gorgeous while they played the piano.

And the music was great! It sounded like something you'd read about in boring old history books, not typically the genre Joey liked. But this guy made it sound good!

Joey listened for a little while, finally taking a seat in the fourth row. He wasn't sure if the piano player had seen him or not, and he didn't want to disturb him, so Joey decided he'd just sit and listen. At least this guy wasn't as weird as everyone else Joey had seen.

When the song came to a close, Joey decided he'd clap. Hell, he stood up and gave a standing ovation. The brunet looked up, shocked at the fact someone had slipped in without him noticing. Then he bowed, feeling slightly flattered.

"You're really good!" Joey said, walking closer to the stage. "I mean, like, Mozart good."

"I am honoured you think so," the brunet said, his voice brisk and authoritive. It was the kind of voice that gave them impression that he hated everyone and everything. "I wouldn't be able to teach here if I was crap, now would I?"

Joey looked him up and down, "Nyeh? But you're hardly a year older than I am, I'm betting!"

"And how old is that?" the muscian said, a glint in his eye.

"Twenty-one," Joey said, getting the feeling he wasn't going to get along with this guy.

"I'm twenty-three," the brunet stated, not bragging at all. "Seto Kaiba." He held out his thin, piano playing hand.

Joey had to step up on the stage staircase to reach him, seeing as the guy was already so freaking tall. "I'm Joey. Joey Wheeler." They shook hands, a shiver running down each their arms. "Uh, if you wouldn't mind helping me...You see, I'm new, and I got shoved in here by a mob of crazy women-"

"You need to find your dorm?" Kaiba asked, cooly. Since he was a professor, Joey decided using his first name would be a bit insulting.

Joey nodded, "Nyeh."

With a swift motion, Kaiba had stolen Joey's schedule. He looked it over, then walked down the steps, his arm faintly rubbing against Joey's shoulder. For some reason, that made Joey feel a bit uneasy. They walked in silence, which Joey found awkward but had no intention of breaking it. Once they got back outside, they were met with another odd sight.

It was the guys who were playing strip poker, from earlier. The short brunet one that sounded like a rapper, and the tall, calm one. They were completely naked, the only thing blocking their manhood was a large pillow they were both using.

"Jaden. Yusei." Kaiba raised an eyebrow, "I thought I told you to stop playing cards with Jack and Crow. You know they're cheating, anyway."

"But !" Jaden whined, making Joey certain that this guy bitched about everything. "They promised cheetos! It was so tempting!"

"To get your clothes stolen?" Joey couldn't help but ask, earning a small snort of amusement from the tall man at his side. Well, what do you know! He had a sense of humor.

"Who's that?" Yusei spoke for the first time, his voice literally silking around his words.

"New guy- didn't you see Ishtar drag him out of the office?" Jaden said, surprising Joey with his sudden chance of tone. He was all hyper, now.

"What's up with his accent?" Yusei asked, turning his dark eyes to stare into Joey's soul.

"Huh? Oh, I'm from Brooklyn." Joey shrugged, "And I really ought to get to my dorm and unpack." He cast a glance at Kaiba, who nodded gruffly and began to walk again.

"Bye!" Jaden called after them, lifting a hand to wave. It just so happened that the hand he used was the same one that was holding up his side of the pillow.

"Jaden!"

"Whassup?"

"Your dick. It's right there!"

"Oh."

Joey couldn't help but laugh as he heard the two naked men begin screaming behind him, checking to see if Kaiba found it funny. Kaiba's eyes were glistening with amusement, but there was no smile on his face. Joey decided that getting this musical prodigy to smile was a new goal. He'd have to remember to meet up with him after this.

When they reached the dorm building, Kaiba gave an inclinement of the head. "This is it. Your room is on the fourth floor."

"Thanks," Joey said, smiling up at Kaiba with his signature grin.

"Stop that. You look like a spoiled mutt." Kaiba grumbled, averting his gaze.

Joey was about to retort, when he saw how adorable the music professor looked when he was blushing ever so slightly. Instead, the blond shrugged again and waved goodbye.

His luggage was piled up in the dorm room, it having been taken by some random teacher while he filled in the admission junk. Joey sighed, scooping up his one duffle bag and his suitcase full of movies. As he made his way for the stairs, he couldn't help but notice a familiar pointy quiff.

"Hey!" the guy exclaimed, noticing Joey at the same time. "You must've gotten attacked by fangirls!"

"So it you're fault, nyeh?" Joey grumbled, shooting a glare at the taller man.

"Who, me? Nah, it's the witch you gotta talk to." he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, pointing out the attractive magazine guy on one of the couches. "Tristan Timothy Taylor, and you?"

"Nyeh? Oh. Joey Wheeler," the blond mumbled.

"Hope we can be friends!" Tristan grinned, it was a stupid grin, the kind that made a guy look so dumb and friendly.

"Did someone say FRIENDS?"

Joey leapt at the sound of a female voice, eyes widening when he saw its owner. She was pretty, with big, blue eyes and a thin frame, almost as tall as Tristan, and her chest was impressive. Joey stopped gawking at her and tried to smile, grateful when Tristan spoke. "Yeah! Joey here is going to be our new pal!"

"Really?!" the girl exclaimed, taking Joey's hands in her own. How was he supposed to resist befriending people who looked so easy to talk to? "I'm T

éa Gardner! Nice to meet you!"

"Uh, nice to meet you, too..." he trailed off, catching sight of another person coming up to him. Joey's first thought was 'what the fuck is up with his hair' when he saw him, with blond bangs, and a red and black mess poofing out of the shorter boy's head.

"Téa, you really shouldn't crowd people." the boy said, smiling warmly. Joey decided he liked this guy, already. "I'm Yugi Muto, and I'm sorry about these guys."

"It's fine," Joey chuckled, "All I wanna do is set up my room."

"Come on guys, we'll have plenty of time to chat with him after he's settled." Yugi said, which was enough to calm Téa down, Tristan reluctantly following suit. Joey finally managed the squeeze past them, shooting Yugi a grateful look as he did.

When he got to his room, he really wasn't sure what to expect. Thankfully, everything seemed normal. There was a sheetless matress on a bedframe in the corner, a mini fridge, a T.V, two dressers, and a bathroom. Joey liked the bathroom; there was enough space for him to do a wide armed twirl. He set up his stuff, unpacked his bag and stacked his movies up. It was already beginning to feel like home.

After making his bed, he contemplated on whether or not he should go back to the lounge. Instead, he looked out his window to see what he had a view of.

Faintly, he could make out the silhouette of two nude men trying to climb up a tree. Joey closed his window, deciding he'd seen enough fo one day.


	2. In which, Téa crashes a van

Breakfast in the dorm room was hectic. Joey learned on his first morning, as he watched Tristan and Téa battle it out for the coffee machine. Everyone bought their own meal, and somehow, they all migrated to the couch in the lounge. This resulted in arguments that seemed to have no end.

Joey had met Yami rather unpleasantly on his first day there, apparently taking 'The Pharaoh's seat' was against the rules. At first, Joey had mistaken him for Yugi, with his identical hair. Shortly afterwards, he realised there were more bangs that stuck up in wild angles, and Yami's eyes and voice were completely different. Of course, Joey didn't have time to think about these things when the self proclaimed Pharaoh was kicking him off the arm of the couch.

It was now a week after that encounter, and Joey stood impatiently in the nearest café's line-up. In front of him, the school's biology teacher was yawning and stretching, which seemed to elavate her chest into his line of vision. Joey quickly looked away, knowing it was rude to stare. A couple more students were there, but it seemed that this café was teacher territory.

When he finally got to the front desk, Joey ordered his bagel and coffee and prepared to walk himself back to his dorm. Two weeks into his classes, Joey could clearly see that something was just wrong with this school. To further prove his point, a short man with blue hair that shaped like a bowl around his head, flew by Joey when he walked out of the restaurant. On a jetpack. He crashed into a nearby tree, shortly afterwards.

Questioning his sanity for the hundreth time since he entered the University, Joey turned to head back to his beloved bagel and started towards his dorm. Along the trip back, he was pretty sure that he saw Marik and Bakura whiz by on a motorcycle.

"Wheeler?"

Joey looked up from his food, almost grinning when he saw the snobby music prodigy. "Nyeh! Kaiba, how are you?"

"I'm fine," Kaiba answered, stoic as ever. Joey was sure his eyes were smiling, though. "How have your classes been? I forgot to ask what you're studying."

"Nothing big, just law." Joey shrugged, twirling his foot in a circle on the pavement. "My professor is a jerk, though. He's kind of rascist."

"You have Shadi, don't you?" Kaiba asked, let out a grumble of a laugh. "Yeah, he's a real pain in the ass. I wouldn't recommend standing next to him at a party. Ever."

Joey chuckled at the idea of his law professor and Kaiba having a few drinks in the staff lounge, picturing the two of them scowling at each other for fun. "Well, I gotta get back. It was nice to see you again."

Kaiba gave a curt nod, "You, too."

Joey gave him a wave and jogged off, already feeling a bit happier. Something told him it would be an okay day. When he reached his dorm, he cautiously glanced around. These days, he never knew if anyone was going to leap out at him. When the coast was clear, he stepped inside. Of course, the first thing he had the pleasure of seeing was Duke and Tristan wrestling on the couch, both arguing about something pointless, no doubt.

"Hey, guys." Joey greeted, sitting himself on the recliner at the edge of the room.

The pair in question looked up from their fight, and spoke in unison. "Hey, Joey." They soon went back to whatever that had been arguing over.

All Joey really had left to eat was half of his bagel, and he had yet to drink his coffee. As he took a bite of his food, he noticed Yugi all but skip into the room. "Hey, guys!" He was grinning his usual grin. "I think today is going to be super-special-awesome!"

"How on earth do you manage to look so happy, nyeh?" Joey asked, his mouth full of bread.

"I actually sleep," Yugi replied, taking his usual seat on the couch, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Tristan and Duke were trying to smother each other next to him. "And what about you? You look slighly more cheerful than usual."

"Nyeh?" Joey gulped down his food, "I don't know." That was only half the truth. Joey was pretty sure seeing Kaiba again had lifted his spirits, but he didn't know why.

Just as Yugi opened his mouth to reply, The Pharaoh barged in. "Morning, peasants!"

"Good morning, Pharoah!" Yugi chirped, lighting up instantly as his friend walked in.

The Pharoah smiled at his little doppledanger, ruffling that odd hair. "G'morning, Yugi."

Joey couldn't help but think that there was something going on between them, but before he could make a comment, Téa silently drooped into the room. "Oh! Morning, Téa!" Joey called to the sole female member of the group. She gave him a weak, tired smile.

"I didn't sleep at all, last night!" she complained, flopping onto the other recliner on the far side of the room. "I was too busy studying for my dance test!"

"Look at all of you!" The Pharaoh glanced across the room with a scoff. "You need to get out more. Tell me, Joey, have you ever been to a real bar?"

"Uh, no." Joey admitted, taking a sip of his coffee.

The grin on The Pharaoh's face was frightening, "Oh, this'll be good! It's settled- we're going out on the town tonight! My treat."

Tristan, who had been pulling Duke's hair, let go. "Seriously?"

Duke, who was, by some awkward situation, no doubt, upside down. "Awesome!"

"It'll be a good experience, I guess." Téa sighed, though she looked a tad more lively.

Yugi just grinned at Joey with a smug 'I told you so' expression. Joey let out a laugh and decided that today would be fun. "Great, what time do we leave?"

"Seven," Yami stood proudly, almost as if he was a real Pharaoh. "Tonight, we shall drink ourselves into submission!" Tristan and Duke let out approving howls.

...

He could hardly focus on his law textbook, Joey was simply too excited. Not once in his life had he been drunk, and he wasn't so sure he wanted to be. But the idea of going out with these people, his friends, it seemed quite exhilirating. Joey felt like a loser for being so hyped up about it, but that didn't stop him.

Finally, classes ended and he was ready to go back to his dorm. It was only four in the afternoon, but he figured he culd watch a movie on his crappy little T.V until it was time. Of course, he was only halfway there when he spotted something. It was a little girl, craning her blonde head up to stare into a tree.

Following her gaze, Joey saw a teddy-bear slung over a high branch. "Need some help getting that down, kid?" Joey asked, stepping forward.

"You clearly believe me to be of lower intellegence," the girl spun around, glaring up at him with green eyes. "But, if you are able to assist me in retrieving my stuffed companion, I will consider letting it slide."

Joey blinked at her, dumbly. Okay, so she was a genius child. He scratched the back of his neck, then decided he better get it over with. He ran right for the trunk of the tree, jumping high into the air and grasping onto the lowest branch. Thankfully, he caught it, and was able to swing himself onto it. After that, it was a breeze. He scaled up the branches until he reached the teddy-bear, then carefully slung it over his shoulder. He got the feeling if he dropped it, the girl would throw a fit.

Finally, he leapt for the ground, landing somewhat clumsily in front of the genius. She gave him a sweet, grateful smile as he handed her the bear. "Thank you, citizen." And with that, she walked away. Joey was beginning to wonder if the whole campus was completely bonkers, or if he was going insane. He decided on both.

When it was finally time to leave, Joey rushed to get changed. It wasn't like he was going anywhere fancy, but he still had the sap and dirt from that tree all over his clothes. He bounded down the stairs, hoping he looked okay. Téa was standing at the door, only in a tank-top and a skirt that stopped just above the knees, with a purse hanging off her elbow. She looked, for lack of better adjective, really hot.

"Man, you are killing that skirt." Joey grinned, earning him a roll of the eyes.

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself." Téa said, glancing him over. "Though, I should probably warn you, I have a boyfriend."

Joey laughed, shaking his head. "I figured, but that doesn't mean I can't give you a compliment."

"Alright, everybody ready?" Tristan asked, as he strolled into the room.

"We still have to wait for Yami," Téa said, "He's the only one who can drive."

As if on cue, Duke popped his head in the doorway. "'Kay, we're all set."

And that was how Joey found himself sitting in the backseat of The Pharaoh's busted up van, with Duke at his left, playing with his hair, and Tristan singing loudly and off-key to the music from the 80s which poured out of the radio. Yugi was sitting shotgun, buzzing with questions. The Pharaoh, who was driving at the brink of the speed-limit, was answering them calmly.

It turned out that Yami intended on taking them to a night club, which was much more of an excitement to Joey. He imagined it would be like the movies; he'd find a gorgeous girl, or maybe even a guy, and they'd go off and have wonderous drunken sex. But he didn't want to get his hopes up, after all, things could end badly.

The club wasn't exactly large, in fact, it was one of those ones that was in a basement. Joey all but flipped out when he saw the bouncer, since he had a habit of forgetting how old he really was. After the group was cleared, The Pharaoh guided them downstairs with a wide grin. "Welcome, my friends!" Yami then opened the door, and all Joey could hear was the sound of the bass in whatever that song was.

It was crowded, and sweaty, and quite frankly, the exact opposite of what Joey had pictured. People where screaming over the music, and some where making out on the few tables the establishment had. It was like the third circle of hell. "Hey, come on, let's dance!" Duke yelled, grabbing Tristan's arm and tugging him out of sight. Joey spun around, hoping that Yugi would still be there. Unfortunately, none of his friends were. Joey stood awkwardly, but he had no time to wonder what had happened when he was bumped into the crowd. It reminded him of Duke's fangirls, so he let himsel be carried by their pressing shoulders and backs, hoping that they's get him to an exit.

Instead, he found himself standing on the sidelines, watching people flail about the dancefloor. Joey wished he had the energy to join in, he wasn't bad at dancing, but there were so many people! He couldn't even see the bar.

"Hey!" a girl stumbled up to him, obviously drunk. He could hardly see her through those rainbow-flashing lights, but Joey could guess she was pretty. "Come on, why aren't you dancing?" She was giggling and tugging at his sleeves. "You're new here? You need a drink!"

Joey didn't even say anything, he just allowed himself to be hauled away by this maybe-gorgeous lady. After another trip through the crowd, Joey was amazed tha she managed to find the bar. "He'll take a vodka!" she cheered, then left Joey standing there.

"First time, huh?" the bartender smiled, propping his elbow on the edge and putting his chin on his palm. "Gotta say, you're holding up pretty well."

"I've never been to a place like this before," Joey grumbled, sitting down on one of the stools. "Is it always this crazy?"

"Actually, it's pretty calm today." The bartender grinned, looking over the crowd.

Joey said nothing after that, and focused on finding his friends. He could see none of them in this lighting, but decided that he'd have to be brave. With a nod, Joey dove back into the mass of humanity. It didn't take nearly as long as he had thought, because Duke seemed to be keen on getting attention. That familiar ebony pony-tail was swing high above the dance floor, for Duke was dancing on a table. From the looks of it, he was already completely smashed. "What the hell is he doing?" Joey exclaimed, finding Tristan staring up at the other man in amusement.

"Oh, he's just dancing." Tristan called back over the music, making it very hard to tell whether he was sober or not. "He's really drunk!"

"Are you?" Joey asked, watching carefully for any signs of it on Tristan's face.

"I had one beer," Tristan laughed, "But I guess I am!"

Joey watched in horror as Tristan climbed onto the table beside Duke, joining him in dance. Then, Joey started laughing, because they really did look ridiculous. Throwing all caution into the wind, he jumped onto the edge of the table, dancing with no sense of rhythm and bumping into Duke more than once. But he didn't care. This was finally getting fun!

After dancing like that for who knows how long, Joey noticed Yugi crawling onto he stage area where the D.J sat. What on earth was he doing? "Guys, look!" Joey pointed him out to Duke and Tristan, who stopped dancing and stared at their friend.

And then, with much shock going through every being in the room, Yugi pushed the D.J out of his chair. "Get a better soundtrack, you lousy son of a bitch!" Yugi screamed, then he sat himself down in front of the stereo. And without any warning, he started to play something. The crowd cheered as the song consumed them, Joey knew it was by the Black-Eyed-Peas, but he couldn't figure out it's name. It didn't seem to matter, because everyone was dancing again like nothing happened. Drunk people where like overgrown toddlers.

Apprently, the D.J was totally cool with being shoved out of his seat, because he didn't get Yugi arrested or anything. He just let him play with the turntables like a drunk idiot. Joey smiled at the scene, then tried his best to find an empty chair. When he did, he leapt off the table and ran for it.

He spent the next thirty minutes watching other people get high and drink themselves into a horny state of mind. Although Joey doubted it was as fun as it looked, so he stayed seated and took pleasure in watching the show. At some point, Yami came up to him and sat down on his lap. "Oi, Joey." The Pharaoh whined, "Do you think Yugi likes me?"

Joey grinned, "Nyeh, he totally does."

"That's fabulous," The Pharaoh grinned, nuzzling his head into Joey's shoulder. His spikey hair hurt, but Joey ignored it and cradled the man in his arms like a huge, intoxicated baby. What else was he supposed to do?

Somehow, Téa had managed her way through the crowd without getting drunk. Joey could tell she was sober because she had enough coordination to take a picture of Yami asleep in his arms. "Oh, Yugi is going to be so pissed at you." Téa laughed, scooping The Pharaoh up. "Here, let me carry him."

"Thanks," Joey mumbled, getting up from his seat. "We should probably head back now."

She nodded, "You get Yugi, I'll get tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum."

And that was how Joey wound up onstage, prying a midgit with tri-coloured hair away from the turnatable. Yugi didn't even fight against his grip, but instead giggled like a crazed maniac and started talking about how he was going deaf. Joey didn't blame him; the speakers were almost emitting enough sound-waves to push him right off the stage.

Miraculously, Joey made it outside. Yugi was still laughing in his grip as he pulled him to the car, making it pretty easy to fasten him up. Joey claimed shotgun, waiting for Téa to return with the others. When she did, she put Tristan and Duke in the backseat, and tucked Yami safely into the seat next to Yugi. It was then that she gasped.

"Do you know how to drive?"

The silence that crept over the car was eery, as Joey's eyes all but popped out of his head. The Pharaoh, who was fast asleep, was the only one who could drive in the entire group.

"Shit!" Joey cried, "How are we gonna get back?!"

Téa pursed her lips, dropping her bag onto The Pharaoh's lap. She then rummaged through his pockets, pulling out the key to the van. Determined, she clenched it into her hand and threw open the door to the driver's seat. Joey stared at her while she worked the key into ignition, the car motor roaring to life. Téa carefully put the car in reverse, backing up at turtle pace. Next to her, Joey could feel the lump forming in his throat. This girl didn't have a license. This was not safe. For a moment, everything was still. And then she pushed the gearshift forward, slamming her foot on the gas.

It was like a scene from a movie; Téa's hands bounced as she spun the steering wheel, driving abruptly out of the parking lot. Joey was flung forward with the force of the moving vehicle, trying his best to fight back the bile in his mouth. Téa was driving at warp speed, rushing over the asphalt with absolutely no care. She gracefully drove in front of other cars, swerving until she was first in line to the open road.

In that moment, where Joey was clinging to the car dashboard for dear life, he found himself admiring that woman. She was driving a van (with no experience) after everyone around her, sans Joey, had gotten too drunk. That was pretty incredible. As they pulsed forward on the freeway, Joey felt like he'd finally has that one, fateful college experience.

That all changed when Téa spun the car into a U turn, swerving desprately over the curb. It took Joey a second to realise she'd missed the entrance to the school. "Oh my god, what the hell are you doing?!" He was screaming, but she seemed calm. They were lifted into the air after hitting a speedbump- or was that another curb?

"NYEH!" Joey's life flashed before his eyes. This was it. He was going to die in the parking lot of Millenium University, crashed against something in an upside down van. He could see his sister weeping for him. And then it was over; they were parked.

Téa was crying, "We're alive!" Joey was too shocked to cry, so he just laughed, Téa joining him in the next few seconds.

From the backseat, Tristan spoke. "I swear to god, Téa, if you ever drive like that again..."

"I'll be forced to get sexy," Duke finished for him, poking his head in the front area. He looked a little green. "I'm going to puke." Duke nodded at them, which seemed to be enough. Joey threw himself out of the car, clinging to his chest. Speeding in a van and almost dying, apparently, escalated heartbeats.

Glancing around the parking lot, Joey wondred if anyone had seen that little stunt. Apparently, yes. Their eyes met at the same moment, each widening marginally.

"Oh, hey Kaiba." Joey stuttered, somewhat embarassed that he had been caught. He jogged up to the teacher, eager to defend himself. "Uh, look, I totally get it if you think we deserve some sort of punishment, nyeh."

"Who the fuck was driving?" Kaiba looked unnerved, shell-shocked. Joey realised that he must have been standing only three feet away from where the car had flung over the curb, almost getting hit.

"Téa," he answered, uncertainly. "Everyone else was too..."

"Drunk?" Kaiba finished, glaring at the parked van.

"Don't get us in trouble!" Joey pleaded, unintentionally grabbed the older man by the arms. "I swear to god, we didn't mean to-"

"Oh, stop whining like a hurt puppy." Kaiba batted his hands away, rolling his eyes. "I won't say a word. Just promise me that she never drives again."

Joey laughed, "After that, I don't think she'll want to."

There was a brief moment of silence, the two of them just stared at each other. Finally, Kaiba sighed and smiled a small, crooked smile. "You should probably help carry your friends home." Joey turned around, noticing Téa trying to carry both Yugi and The Pharaoh by herself. "See you around, Wheeler."

"Bye, Kaiba." Joey said, shooting him a grateful smile before bounding back to his friends. He felt a bit lighter, just as he had that morning. Maybe Kaiba had some sort of weird affect on him, but Joey didn't have much time to ponder on it; The Pharaoh was heavy, despite his size.


	3. In which, The Pharaoh downs a tutu

October was going by fast, and Joey was coming to terms with the insanity of the university. Well, almost. It was one Saturday morning when he heard the doorbell ring. That's right- the doorbell. He lived in a dorm, the only time that bell ever rung was for pizza. Except it was so early, it woke him up. Joey was confused and hopeful, so he poked his head out the window to see who or what had roused him. Below, he could make out a mop of brown hair, olive skin, and he was pretty sure it was a guy. The stranger rocked back and forth on his feet, singing quietly to himself.

Joey had no idea what this guy was trying to put into lyrics, but he only heard a mess of syllables. "_Do da la la la laa~_!"

Deciding it was best to investigate, Joey all but flopped downstairs in his pajamas. Standing in the entrance space, Tristan looked about as clueless as he felt, and Duke...well, Duke's hair was out of it's ponytail and falling into a gorgeous, curly mess. He looked like a sexy pirate that you'd see on the cover of those old, erotic books. Joey snorted in amusement, joining his dormates to stand before the door.

"It's Téa's boyfriend, I think." Duke yawned, stretching out his long, slender arms. Joey often wondered how on earth this guy looked so pretty, even after he'd just woken up. "She said, 'under no circumstances are you allowed to talk to him without me there'."

"I think she's afraid we'll embarass her," Tristan mumbled, "Duke and I have known her since high school."

"Back then, she was nothing but another fangirl." Duke nodded, wobbling into Tristan's arm. He remained leaning there for support, almost as if Tristan was nothing but a post. Joey let out a laugh, shaking his head at them.

"Guys!" Téa suddenly charged down the hallway, still in her baggy, plaid sleepwear. "Why didn't you wake me? Kuriboh's been there for fifteen minutes!"

"'Under no circumstances'." Tristan mimicked, his voice shrill and feminine.

Glaring at her pointy-haired friend, Téa brushed by them and threw open the door. "Kuriboh, I am so sorry! Guess I got too much beauty sleep."

"You don't need any more beauty, babe." Kuriboh greeted, with one of the calmest voices Joey had ever heard. He studied the guy, noting the basketball jersey, the big, blue eyes, and that smile. It was like looking at a 'boy next door' carbon copy.

As Téa leapt and kissed her boyfriend, Duke made a gagging noise, whereas Tristan backed him up with a scrunched up face. "Aw, gross! Go make out somewhere else!" Ignoring them, Téa pulled Kuriboh inside and back down the hallway, and out of sight.

"He seemed friendly," Joey said, smiling.

"We have to get her back for that make out session." Tristan mumbled, sticking out his tongue in disgust. Duke nodded in agreement, ebony curls flying everywhere. Joey rolled his eyes and walked back upstairs, eager to get more sleep.

But, it was a fruitless effort. Once he was awake, it was hard to get back to dreamland. Joey sighed, stripped from his PJs, and threw on a grey hoodie and some jeans. He didn't bother brushing his teeth or hair, and flopped back downstairs again. Tristan and Duke were on their usual place on the couch, staring at the blank T.V screen with little interest.

"Can you pass us the remote?" Duke asked, glancing up at Joey's passing figure.

"Nyeh, get it yourself." Joey waved him off, slipping on his shoes and heading outside.

And of all the sights he could have been greeted with, before him stood Jaden. "Hey, dog! You're a friend of Yugi's, right?" Jaden all but skipped towards him, his amber eyes wide with excitement. When Joey nodded, he fist pumped. "Sweet! Tell him that we're coming over to play cards tonight, a'ight?"

"Uh, sure." Joey prayed silently that the mentioned cards would not be used for strip poker.

"Awesome! You da man!" Jaden winked at him and skipped off, almost tripping over a crack in the sidewalk. Joey shook his head and kept walking, not once doubting that wouldn't be the strangest thing he'd see this morning.

In fact, he was right. The flying green-haired boy, whom Joey later learned was actually a teacher who was thirty, was trying to sell his younger brother. Also, outside the building Joey had classes in, proffessor Shadi was in the midst of telling a few students that he was Voldemort, and Joey swore he saw Marik and Bakura wearing swim-trunks and running away from who he assumed was the janitor.

It didn't take him long to notice where he was walking; of all places, the auditorium had been the one he liked most. He wasn't fooling himself, however, for the real reason he liked it so much was Kaiba was often spilling out some symphony all over the piano keyboard.

Sure enough, the music professor was there. Joey had heard this song before, it sounded like a Lady Gaga one. Joey cupped his hands around his mouth, readying himself to yell. "Is this _Paparazzi_?"

"Yes," Kaiba called back, not missing a beat. "The acoustic version isn't particularly challenging, but the tempo is nice."

Joey jumped down the steps, taking long strides to reach the stage. Kaiba was watching him from the corner of his eye, but his fingers never ceased touching the keys. "That's pretty impressive. Both multitasking, and the music." Joey grinned, noticing Kaiba slide over to make room for him on the piano bench.

"Can you play?" Kaiba asked, finally bringing the song to a close.

Joey shook his head, "Not really."

Kaiba nodded down at the keys, then turned back to Joey. "Go ahead."

And that was how the most horrible cover of 'Twinkle Twinkle' was played. Kaiba snorted halway through the second verse, then promptly broke into a fit of laughter. Joey, never having heard him laugh before, continued to play horribly with a huge grin plastered on his face. "No, no stop!" Kaiba said between laughs, grabbing joey's hands and pulling them off the ivory keys. "You're terrible at this."

"I told you," Joey shrugged, ignoring the blush that came to his cheeks at the fact Kaiba was holding his hands. "Hey, it's Saturday. Don't you have a life outside here?"

"I needed to do some grading," Kaiba stated, finally letting go of Joey's hands. "And what about you? You normally only come here during the afternoon."

"Couldn't get back to sleep, so I came to check." Joey said, sheepishly. "Thanks for giving me a place to sit, by the way."

Kaiba looked away, almost embarrassedly. "It's better than you yelling up at me."

Then, the brunet began to play something else. Joey didn't recognise it, but it was probably some old, prestigious sonata or whatever. He listened intently, watching Kaiba's hands work themselves over the notes, like he'd played it thousands of times before. That was when Joey looked up, and seeing Kaiba's studied, focused expression, he felt mesmerised. It was as if it were a kodak moment, Kaiba's soft features so inept with the sound coming from that piano, Joey almost wondered if he remembered if he was there or not.

"This is something I made up," Kaiba suddenly said, quietly.

"You wrote this?" Joey blinked, though he was more impressed than surprised. "You're so freaking good at this! Why are you a teacher?"

Kaiba laughed, speeding up the song so that it sounded more dramatic. "Well, I hardly think my songs are standard enough. Plus, this is a violin composistion, it's not nearly as good on the piano as it is on the original instrument."

Joey watched him in both awe and stupor, "But, Kaiba, I thought this was Bethoven or someone like that!" He then put a hand on Kaiba's shoulder, locking their eyes. "I think you should at least have a concert, nyeh?"

Kaiba just stared at him, then slowly stopped playing. "I'm fine being where I am, now."

Under normal circumstances, Joey would have immediately protested. But Kaiba was practically glaring at him, so he dropped the topic. "Uh..." Just as he was searching for something to say, Kaiba stood up.

"Get up," Kaiba ordered, "We might as well get some fresh air."

"I ain't some dog you can just walk around, you know." Joey pouted, but stood up nonetheless. Kaiba smirked at him, leading the way outside.

As they walked, they spoke to each other. Joey mainly asked how Kaiba had gotten into music, which earned him a rather entertaining backstory. Apparently, Kaiba's adoptive father had forced him into learning the violin at an early age, but Kaiba was, well, outstanding. His father then proceeded to use him as a bait for money, until Kaiba finally realised what was going on. That was why he decided to teach, not perform.

"And what about you? Why law?" Kaiba asked, as they passed the school library.

Joey was a bit taken aback from his interest, but decided it was only fair to tell him. "It's kinda stupid compared to your story. I used to dream of being a cop."

Kaiba's eyebrow shot up, "A cop?"

"Yeah, not exactly a job I can see myself doing now, nyeh?" Joey smiled, "Anyways, when I was just out of high school, I went straight for the academy and prepared myself for a badge. But when I started up classes, I accidentally found myself watching a court case." Joey checked to see if Kaiba was still listening, nervously looking at his feet.

"I've never told anyone this, but I purposefully made it look like I wasn't cut out for the job. After I saw that session, with the judge and everything, I just wanted to be up there screaming about justice or injustice and getting paid for it." Joey finished his story with a laugh, bringing his arms up behind his head and sighing. "Pretty stupid, huh?"

Kaiba shook his head, gently. "No, I think that it's smart and divided."

Joey preened a little bit under the praise, "That's the first time someone told me that."

"It shouldn't have been," Kaiba said, with a faint smile.

The rest of their walk, they openly discussed their interests. It turns out that they had a lot in common, for they shared a love of video games, movies, and, weirdly enough, dragons. As they spoke, passing replies back and forth, Joey found that even arguing with Kaiba made him feel happy. He wondered if Kaiba got that light, floaty feeling whenever their eyes met. Of course, it was really girly and ridiculous of Joey to be thinking like that, but it was true.

"Quick, get down." Kaiba suddenly exclaimed, grabbing Joey's wrist and tugging him forward. Not two seconds later, the history professor, Dartz, went flying over their heads.

"That's for lying to me, you worthless son of a bitch!"

Joey, whose face was half covered in Kaiba's button up shirt, could make out the figure of the tech-buisness professor, Rafael, looking extremely enraged. Beside him, two students stood with wide eyes. Turning pink, Joey slipped out of Kaiba's arms, turning to see if Dartz was okay. The professor had landed in a bush, looking rather beat up.

"Raf, how many times to I have to apologise?" Dartz grumbled, getting to his feet.

"Fuck you!" was reply the larger man graced him, storming off.

"Y- yeah! Fuck you!" One of the students added, hastily following Rafael away. The other one stared blankly at Dartz before catching up with the others.

Kaiba, who had yet to release Joey's wrist, turned and sighed. "Again?"

Dartz stuck out his tongue, "Quiet, rich boy."

"Hey!" Joey had no idea why he was jumping in, "Making fun of him is my job!"

Kaiba let go of Joey's wrist and facepalmed. Stumbling past them, Dartz broke into a run after the three men who had left him there. Kaiba watched him go, clearly irritated. "I think Rafael actually threw him, this time."

Joey nodded, his flushed face returning to normal. "Thanks for, uh, saving me."

"No problem," Kaiba said, looking a bit red in the face himself.

It didn't take long for them to wind up in front of Joey's dorm. "You want to come in?" Joey asked, tentatively.

"I'm alright," Kaiba said, softly. "Thanks for the invitation, though."

"See you later!" Joey chirped, waving goodbye and going inside.

Why on earth did he have to walk in on these things. Joey stared at the sight before him with wide eyes, almost disbelieving that this was reality, for The Pharaoh was wearing a tutu. Yes, that's right. A tutu. Before Joey could scream in horror, he couldn't help but notice that Yami really did have the legs for it, only then did he scream. The Pharoah, who had previously had his back turned to Joey, spun around and clapped a hand over the blond's mouth.

"Listen here," The Pharaoh's tone was dead serious, "I'm getting vengence and pleasure all in one. You understand?" Joey nodded, trying to ignore how ice cold Yami's fingers were on his face. "Good! Now, walk into the living room like nothing happened."

Obeying, Joey ambled towards his designated recliner. Téa and her boyfriend were sitting on the second couch, and Joey understood the vengence; Kuriboh was in The Pharaoh's seat. Duke and Tristan looked like they hadn't budged since Joey went for a walk, even though they must have because Duke's hair was up in it's usual pony-tail, and Tristan was playing on his gameboy. All was still, only a few unnerved glances from Joey to Kuriboh were evident.

And then The Pharaoh attacked, somehow having acquired a can of silly-string in the few seconds Joey had left him. "No one sits in my throne, not even Téa's boyfriend!"

Kuriboh blinked at him, calmly allowing himself to get covered in string. Téa was so shocked, she did the thing where her hands slapped over her mouth. Joey was trying hard not to laugh, but Tristan and Duke hollered with no shame.

"Why the fuck are you in a tutu?" Téa cried, the moment the string ran out.

"BECAUSE I LOOK DAMN GOOD!" Which, no one could deny, he did.

With a huff, Téa got to her feet and started asking if Kuriboh was okay, to which he simply smiled fondly at her, telling her he was fine. They left the room to get him cleaned off, and The Pharaoh gave a satisfied huff, dusting off his throne.

He was just sitting down when Yugi skipped into the room. "Hey, guys, have you seen- HOLY CARD GAMES!"

Joey watched as his friend stared at Yami with wide eyes, gradually became pink in the face, and started blubbering. "You... what... why... skirt...?"

"You've seen nothing!" Yami made the jedi mind trick movement with his hands, "This is not the incredibly sexy Pharaoh you're looking for!"

Yugi stared at him, then turned to Joey. "Help me."

"I wish I could," Joey chuckled, sarcasm lacing his voice as he leaning back in his seat. "But he's the one wearing the pants in this house."


	4. In which, Kaiba's carpet is ruined

Strip poker matches were a lot more intense than Joey had first thought. He wasn't playing, for fear of losing, and he could already feel the stress. Yusei, the tall, olive-skinned man with black pointy hair, was currently down to his socks, pants and boxers. Jaden, who looked rather stressed, was only in an undershirt that reached his thighs. Yugi was fully clothed, and The Pharaoh was only missing his socks.

Joey watched carefully as Jaden displayed his cards, squinting to see his hand. "Four of a kind, bitches!" He delightedly pulled his boxers back on, as everyone else readied to take off more clothing.

Yugi held up his cards, smirking awfully. "Royal flush."

Jaden whined, kicking his boxers back off, as Yusei peeled his socks off and The Pharaoh shrugged off his sweater. Everyone seemed more interested in the game than the actual stripping, aside from Téa and a few other girls who had showed up. Joey wondered why card games where such a big deal, but he was guilty of being completely absorbed. A few of Yusei's band members had even crowded the dorm, handing out beer for everyone.

One of them, Joey thought he heard the name Jack, was insistent of yelling words of encouragment in Yusei's ear. Another one, Crow, decided Joey needed to at least have a beer, which resulted in a lot of coaxing until he finally gave in. Just one wouldn't hurt, right?

Wrong. Joey found out that he was as much as a leightweight as his father, the world spinning the moment he emptied the can. His surroundings became blurry, his mind was blanking, and he was terrified. Joey hadn't seen his father in about four years, he hadn't even thought about his old man. But now, he was drinking, something he'd promised himself never to do as a kid. Getting to his feet, Joey felt dizzy; as if he'd been spinning in circles and the room was falling sideways. He staggered to the door, barely able to put his shoes on.

"Joey, where are you going?" Yugi called, obviously still trapped in the poker game.

"Out," Joey said, wanting nothing more than to get away. If he was anything like his father, then he would definitely be an angry drunk. He had to get as far away from his friends as possible, and yet, he found himself stumbling towards the auditorium. Kaiba wasn't there, which seemed to make it worse. Joey's chest felt heavy, his head hurt. Never again was he ever having beer, he decided as he sat down.

"Wheeler? What are you doing here?" Kaiba's voice sounded from the far side of the stage, probably exiting the classroom at the back.

"Nyeh, I'm drunk, and it ain't good. It hurts ta think, and everthin' seems like it's gonna crash on me." Joey babbled, wincing at how strong his Brooklyn accent had gotten.

Kaiba was suddenly right in front of him, "You're drunk? I thought you said you didn't drink."

"I thought it wouldn't hurt, y'anno?" Joey unintentionally reached out for the taller man, surprised when Kaiba caught his hand. "I'm gonna be like my old man, dat bastard did nuthin' right. Always hit me with his stuff, an' he was a ruthless bastard. Such a bastard."

Kaiba's quiet laugh surprised Joey, as he helped him to his feet. "Are you good to stand?"

"Nah, the room is upside down. I tell ya, it ain't like a bounce house. Nah, dis here is serious bizz." Joey wanted to shut up so badly, but words just kept pouring out of his mouth.

Kaiba's laughter was cheering him up, "Okay, come on, I'll take you back to your dorm."

"Nyeh!" Joey squeaked, "No! My friends are there! I'm gonna get rage -BROOKLYN RAGE!- I might hurt 'em!"

Kaiba eyed him, slinging Joey's arm around his shoulder. "And you don't care if I get hurt?"

"I'd nevah hurt ya, Kaib'." Joey slurred, honestly. "I'd rather die."

Kaiba sighed, leading him back towards the auditorium door. "Alright, we'll go somewhere else. Just don't throw up on me, you stupid mutt."

...

Joey awoke with the feeling of a screwdriver in the back of his skull, horrified that he was going to die. Fortunately, when he checked his head, he couldn't find anything. He forced himself to open his eyes, taking in the fuzzy, unfamiliar surroundings, and then there was Kaiba. Joey realised that he was, for one thing, in an unfamiliar bed, and for another, Kaiba was in said bed, asleep, next to him.

Joey abruptly sat up, checking to see if he was still clothed. Big mistake. Nausea shot through him with light speed, and the bile in his throat was ready to go. He got up, a bigger mistake, tripped, and vomitted all over the carpet.

Kaiba, who had been roused by the sound of Joey puking, was immediately at his side. Joey felt cool fingers rubbing circles into his back, almost calming him as he choked the last of his former dinner out. When he finally finished, he stared at the mess.

"Sorry," he mumbled, sheepishly turning to meet Kaiba's hard gaze.

Kaiba's stare softened, "I never liked this carpet, anyway."

One glass of water and immense carpet soaking later, he was told that after they left the auditorium, Kaiba didn't know what else to do with him, so he brought him home. Joey was quite embarrrassed for having thought something might've happened between them, and kept that incorrect assumption a secret. "At least you didn't puke on me." Kaiba said, getting himself an apple from the fruit bowl he had on his counter.

Joey examined Kaiba's apartment with curious eyes, surprised it was so large. There was a flatscreen T.V on the wall, and a couch that looked so comfortable, Joey wondered why he hadn't slept there. "I'm really sorry, Kaiba." Joey mumbled, burrying his face in his hands. "Ugh, how bad did my accent get?"

"It was horrifyingly strong," Kaiba smirked, chomping down on the fruit. Joey apologised again, burrying his face in his hands. "Hey, it wasn't any trouble." Kaiba shrugged, "Besides, what was I supposed to do?"

"I dunno," Joey admitted, blushing.

Kaiba smirked at him, then glanced at the T.V. "Uh... If you want, we can play video games."

Joey instantly perked up, "Really?"

And that was how the blond was crippled in defeat. Kaiba had an interesting video game called Duel Monsters, in which a player picked multiple monsters and battled it out until the opposing lost all their life points. Kaiba was a champion; he might as well have wiped the vomit-covered floor with Joey.

"Dammit, this is unfair!" Joey whined, "I demand a rematch!"

Kaiba just rolled his eyes, "A waste of time." Albeit grinning, he still managed to make it sound harsh. Joey just determinedly attacked his monster, gritting his teeth with focus.

It wasn't until noon that Joey realised that no one knew where he was, and that he probably needed a shower. Kaiba offered to walk him back, but Joey instead insisted on going alone. After getting directions, he paused at the door. "I'm sorry you had to deal with all this."

"Hey, I already said that I forgive you!" Kaiba grumbled, crossing his arms. "Besides, it was kind of... fun."

Joey might as well have floated away when he heard that, his heart pounding vigorously in his chest. Leaning on the door as he closed it, Joey wondered what on earth was going on. Why did Kaiba make him feel like this? Was he sick? Joey's mind scrambled the entire walk back through campus, and was barely sorted out before he reached his dorm.

"We were worried sick about you!" Tristan scolded like a mother, as Joey slipped off his shoes. He opened his mouth to reply, but Yugi scampered down the hall and glomped him.

"I thought you were killed!" Yugi wailed, squeezing the life out of Joey.

"Nyeh! Can't... breathe!" Joey gasped, his dizziness returning. "I'm gonna hurl!"

Yugi's arms dropped to his sides, and he backed away from Joey apologetically. Joey stumbled to the hallway bathroom, aiming directly for the toilet. Once he was done, Yami came in and gave him a piece of a chocolate bar. "It'll beat the taste of that." The Pharaoh chuckled, patting Joey on the shoulder. And for once, Joey didn't doubt him.


	5. In which, Yugi breaks a nose

Winter came all at once, showering the campus in a blanket of snow. This meant it was more difficult to walk to classes, and Joey found himself only wearing his pajamas during the week. No one blamed him, it seemed the season had brought on a tired, cranky, and lazy side out of every student. It was two weeks before the holidays, and Joey was eager to get the semester over with. While he crammed for his law exams, he spent time with Kaiba in the music classroom. Apparently, the brunet had no problem with Joey studying in the corner while he went through his lesson plans. Joey was grateful for it, and even more so when Kaiba struck up a light conversation. It almost seemed normal.

Of course, that faded away the moment he stepped outside of the building.

"DUKE DEVLIN, I AM TALKING TO YOU!" a female voice screamed, belonging to a short, thin blonde with wide, green eyes. Joey thought she was rather cute, with her blue and silver scarf, but the look in her eyes screamed 'intimidating'.

"MANA, I'M NOT DOING IT!" Duke, who was hiding behind Tristan a few meters away from the girl, yelled back. Joey jogged up to his friends, curiousity forming.

"But, Duke!" Mana whined, crossing her arms. "As an official member of the Black Magic club, it is your duty!"

"But, I'm, like, totally not doing it!" Duke whined back, ducking behind Tristan some more.

"I'll make you!" Mana vowed, stomping forward and grabbing Duke by the ponytail. She dragged him away, ignoring the fact he was whimpering in pain.

"What was that all about?" Joey asked, turning to Tristan.

The taller of the two had the most frightening smirk Joey had ever seen, a rather horrific feature on Tristan's usual dopey face. "Oh, it's just a tradition. Each year, a member of the Black Magic club has to have a 'duel' with another one. This time, Mana and Duke where chosen to have a snowball fight...a naked snowball fight."

Joey blinked, "Nyeh? I thought Duke said he hated snow, just a few days back."

Tristan's smirk grew, "He does."

Adding a mental note never to get on Tristan's bad side, Joey turned to go back to his dorm. As usual, he was greeted by an odd sight when he arrived. This time, Yugi was fumbling with what looked like a snowsuit, only wearing boxers and jumping up and down on one foot. Joey exchanged no words with the tri-colour-haired man, just simply walking down the hall as if he had seen nothing. He jumped out of the way when Yami rushed by him, carrying jeans and a sweater with a worried expression.

"Aibou, you forgot about these!" The Pharaoh scolded, pulling the sweater over Yugi's head. "Honestly, you get so worked up over these exams!"

"Yami, this may decide if I graduate with a major in programming, it means a lot to me!" Yugi huffed, easily allowing himself to be dressed. It was almost like it was a habit, getting The Pharaoh to clothe him. Joey watched them with amusement, beginning his way up the stairs. He faintly heard Yugi's annoyed voice, "And what's with calling me aibou? What does that even mean?"

"I think it's Japanese for gay or partner; I forget." The Pharaoh said back, causing Joey to snicker. Honestly, if Yugi didn't start getting the hints, he was going slap him. He was about two more steps up when he heard a scream, immediately bactracking and running towards it.

The Pharoah was standing in front of Yugi, his back turned to Joey so he had no idea what kind expression he had on. Ryou, the small, timid albino Joey had one or two classes with, was standing at the door, small puffs of smoke rising from his lips because of the cold. His cheeks and nose were red, and he was looking at Yami with scared, brown eyes.

"I... I just came to give Joey his cram notes. He left them on his desk." the British man declared, shifting nervously. "I had no idea this was Yugi's dorm..."

"Don't you say his name!" The Pharaoh spat, his tone harsh and disgusted. Joey quickly stepped in, taking his notes from Ryou'd hands. The albino looked much more relieved to see him, and Joey could tell why. The Pharaoh looked furious; his eyes were narrowed, his teeth were gritted, and his entire stance screamed 'fight me'.

"Uh, what's going on?" Joey tried to mask his curiousity, but it came out more as a demand. He wasn't all that close with Ryou, but he knew him well enough to say the guy didn't desrve to be targeted like this. And then, Joey finally realised Yugi.

He looked like a soldier who had just been thrown back into war: scared and blank. Ryou, who was keeping his eyes fixed on the ground, just looked guilty and sad. Now, Joey was no deductive genius, but it was pretty obvious they weren't on good terms. "You can leave now, creampuff." The Pharaoh seethed, closing the door in Ryou's face.

Yugi snapped out of it, "Oh, jesus, why was it _him_?"

"My notes," Joey awkwardly held up the sheets of paper, upset he had caused some sort of problem. "Nyeh, look, I didn't mean to stir up old memories, or whatever."

"Oh, it's fine." Yugi said, laughing quietly. "We were just friends back in high school, but... Well, it's complicated. Basically, we got into a bad fight."

Joey understood, nodding. "Say no more. Sorry to pry, it was none of my buisness."

Yugi gave him a grin, "I totally sounded like a girl, didn't I?" He was referring to the scream.

"Yes you did!" The Pharaoh laughed, anger vanishing. "Now, hurry up, or you'll be late for class!" And with that, they walked out the door.

Joey was beginning to wonder what had caused the fight, but he quickly shook it off. None of his buisness, he should just stay out of it. All curiousity subsided as he re-read his notes, anxious for his upcoming exams more than he'd ever been in his life.

...

Kaiba never visited his dorm, so it nearly gave Joey a heart attack when he saw the brunet hitting his fists off the door from the window. He ran dowstairs, slipping once, landing on his butt, recovered, and quickly flung open the door. Kaiba marched in, looking only slightly unnerved. "Wheeler, quick. You're friends with Mutou, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Joey's eyes widened, "What's wrong?"

"He's gotten himself into a fight fight with that British kid. Yami told me to get you." Kaiba said, carefully. "Not to break up the fight, but for moral support or something." He shuffled on his feet, clearly uncomfortable talking about anything that involved friendship.

"Nyeh?! Okay, thanks, Kaiba!" Joey grabbed his coat, threw on his shoes and ran. It had only been a few hours since Yugi's little scream, and now they were in a fight? Joey picked up his pace, but it didn't take long to find them. Students were gathered in a swarm, almost like penguins. Téa suddenly appeared, grabbing Joey's arm and towing him to the front.

Well, he had seen better fights. Ryou was currently hunched over, aiming harsh punches at Yugi's shoulders, whilst the latter pulled on his hair. It looked like child's play, only there was a heavy, uncertain atmosphere hanging in the air; Yugi and Ryou were actually giving it their all, and their all was very close to being pathetic. Each of them let out small, angry growls as they wrestled. Joey glanced around the crowd, a bit surprised that half the students were probably watching this. Then he found out that the real fight wasn't going on between the shorter men, but between The Pharaoh and that Marik look-alike. Except, they weren't moving at all. They were just glaring at each other from across the space left for the fight.

"Hey, Téa, what's that guy's name?" Joey asked, pointing at the Egyptian.

"That's Melvin," Téa whispered back, watching the fight with interest. "I don't know much, but here's what I do know: He became Ryou's friend after he and Yugi had their falling out, but they sort of wound up going to the same university. Tch, boys."

"Why's he glaring at The Pharaoh?" Joey mumbled, raising an eyebrow at the weak brawl.

Téa chuckled, "Isn't it obvious? They're like husbands watching their wives catfight."

It finally clicked in Joey's mind, and he decided to pay attention. Now, Ryou had Yugi pinned to the ground, punching him across the face with full strength. Yugi was taking it like a true man, gritting his teeth and letting his head smack against the pavement. As Ryou's arm snapped back for another punch, Yugi leant upwards with speed, headbutting the Brit in the chin. Ryou snapped his head back, letting out a gasp of pain as he stumbled to his feet. Yugi stood up, wiping blood from his lips.

"You bloody wanker!" Ryou spat, anger flooding off him. "You could've broken my nose!"

"That's the plan, limey!" Yugi grinned, looking quite evil. "We'll be even, that way!"

Ryou blinked, his brown eyes widening. It seemed he had just realised something, but joey didn't have a clue what it was. Straightening his posture, Ryou's anger melted into calmness. "Alright. Fair enough, you arse."

Yugi's grin faded, replaced with a sad expression. He balled his hand into a fist, pulling it back behind his head. Then, without any given warning, he charged. The audience watched the next scene play out with horror, as Yugi's knuckles collided against Ryou's pale, thin nose. The impact forced Ryou's head to turn sideways, just as a sickening crack echoed across campus. Yugi pulled back his hand, breathing heavily from exhaustion. Ryou turned his gaze back to the slightly shorter boy, almost sadly. The tension was so thick, it could be cut with a knife.

And then, Ryou laughed. He laughed a light, girlish giggle. Not a second after he did this, blood poured from his now disfigured nose. Melvin all but raced up to him, shoving Yugi out of the way rather violently. After staring at the albino, Melvin brought his hand up to the broken nose and grabbed hold of it, blood getting all over his mitten. There was another snap, and Ryou's nose was back in place.

"Good fight," Yugi said, his tone bittersweet.

"Quite," Ryou agreed, allowing Melvin to disgard his mitten and make it a soaker for the blood. After this was done, they left the clearing and presumably went for the parking lot. Everyone who had been watching scattered, but Téa was quickly at Yugi's side, Joey right on her heels. Yugi turned towards them, shooting a weak thumbs up.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" she asked, tilting Yugi's face towards her by his chin, much like the way a mother would. He grimaced at her touch, then smiled.

"That kind of hurts," he said, quietly. "Please let go."

"I'm sorry!" Téa gasped, pulling back. He forgave her, of course, then looked over her shoulder. Joey followed his stare, realising it rested on The Pharaoh. Yami hadn't moved at all since the conclusion of the battle, and was just staring off into the distance.

Yugi opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't need to. The Pharaoh suddenly strode in their direction, quickly brushing past Téa and Joey to get to Yugi, who looked at him with big, watery eyes. Joey felt bad that he couldn't help his friend out, but his guilt vanished when Yami scooped the smallest of the group into a big, strong hug. Yugi started crying, wailing into The Pharaoh's shoulder like a baby. It wasn't the kind of crying that made him look like an emotional teenage girl, but the kind of crying you'd see one of the heroes in the movie have. It was just tears, shaking, and quiet gulps for breath.

The four of them went home, Yugi holding Yami's hand and still sniffling.

They didn't feel upset for long, for Duke was standing in the dorm room butt naked. Snow clung to his bare skin, and he was shivering like a chihuahua on vibrate. Tristan came into the room with towels and a grin on his face, which disappeared when he saw Yugi's condition.

"What happened...?" Everyone spoke in perfect unison.


	6. In which, Kaiba threatens a lawsuit

Christmas: the most dramatic and jumpy time of the year. After finishing up exams, Joey was buzzing with delight at the idea. He was going to visit his mother and sister in Buffalo, but would be spending the majority of the holidays cooped up in his dorm watching his favorite movies; such was his own tradition. Joey was looking forward to it, but he was sure something was missing. Maybe he'd invite a friend? Unfortunately, he knew they were all busy because of the holidays.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Joey was finally finished packing and ready for the taxi ride. Millenium University was in Detroit, so he had quite a trip ahead of him. His mother, however, had insisted on paying the fine for his transport, so he was going to be okay. Joey carried his suitcase down the stairs, knowing that there weren't many people to say goodbye to. Téa and Kuriboh had gone to visit family over the break, Tristan and Duke were spending the holidays at Duke's parent's resort, and The Pharaoh and Yugi weren't going anywhere.

Joey knew they were awake when he heard them talking to someone, and after hearing that familiar, chipper voice, Joey knew it was Jaden. "So, you guys are staying here, again?"

"Yeah," Yugi said, "I mean, what's the point if Grandpa was the only one who ever spoke to me? Family meetings are stupid."

"Don't have much a family to return to," The Pharaoh laughed, "Right, Yusei?"

Joey felt bad for eavesdropping, but it was kind of interesting and he was a curious guy. Yusei spoke, that low voice silking around the air. "Right, we've only got friends, now."

Deciding it was the best time to make an enterance, Joey waltzed in. "Hey, Yug'! I'll be back in three days, alright?"

"Oh!" Yugi scampered to his feet, throwing his little arms around Joey's waist. "Bye, best friend!"

"Hey!" Yami sounded agitated, but he was grinning.

Joey gave his shorter friend a one armed hug, then waved goodbye. He began his trek through the ankle deep snow, lugging his tiny suitcase behind him. If he didn't hurry, he'd miss his cab. The walk was eerily peaceful, seeing as the majority of the residents were gone. Joey shivered at it, because he really did miss the insanity.

"Harassment lawsuit!"

Joey blinked, looking up to see Kaiba running full speed towards the parking lot. And who was chasing him? It was the dean himself! Joey was startled at the man, for he was only in a bathrobe. "Kaiba, boy! Oooh, Kaiba!" He had the voice of a fashion designer.

Without even hesistating, Joey ran forwards as fast as his feet would allow, suitcase flailing behind him. "Kaiba, quick!" he yelled, finally catching up to the brunet. "In there!" Joey had no idea why he was pointing at his cab, but he was. Kaiba looked startled to see him, but nodded and flung the door open. Both of them scrambled in, slamming the door shut at Pegasus' running figure. He was getting closer!

"Buffalo, and stat!" Joey yelped, as the taxi driver gave them an odd look before driving off.

Kaiba, who was panting a bit from exhaustion, look at Joey fondly. "Thanks."

"No problem," Joey huffed, still slightly out of breath. "I just hope he doesn't kick me out."

Kaiba let out a sigh, "I guess I'm going to Buffalo, then."

Guilty, Joey ducked his head. "Nyeh, I didn't exactly think it through..."

Chuckling, Kaiba leaned his head back on the seat, finally putting his seatbelt on. "Well, I didn't have many plans, anyway."

"I'm sure you'll like my family," Joey said, trying to reassure him. "My mom makes really good turkey, and my sister is friendly, so..."

Kaiba reached out his hand and pulled Joey's seatbelt over the latter's hips, almost scoffing. Joey's face went red at how close the other man had gotten, and how his fingers were brushing lightly against his coat. "I hope this is worth it, mutt."

"I ain't a mutt!" Joey complained, pouting.

Kaiba sat back up in his seat, looking unimpressed. "Of course you are. You're just like a giant, fluffy, puppy." He reached out and ran his hand over Joey's hair, mimicking petting a dog.

Joey hated how soothing that felt, and he hated how Kaiba pulled away after it. "Well, if I'm a dog, then you're a snake!" Joey said, with a nod. "You've got those cold, stand-off eyes."

Kaiba burst out laughing, surprising the blond at his side. It was the first real, giant laugh Joey had ever heard his taller friend make. It made his chest feel warm, and his head was fuzzy. This was going to be a long drive.

...

"Joey!" Serenity exclaimed, the moment he got out of the cab. She was running down the driveway, her arms spread out and ready for a hug. He scooped her up and spun her around, laughing at how heavy she had become with age.

"Serenity!" he fondly held her out in front of him, smiling widely. "Well, look at you!"

She giggled, her red hair bouncing off her shoulders. People said they didn't look very similair, but Joey could count on one thing to stay the same. She opened her big, brown eyes with a smile. Yup, this was his sister. "Ugh, you're so pretty!" Joey whined, setting her on her feet. Turning around, he noticed Kaiba holding his suitcase and looking a tad out of place.

"Oh, you brought a friend?" Serenity asked, clearly delighted.

After paying the taxi driver, Joey introduced them. "Ren, this is Kaiba, Kaiba this is my little sister, Serenity."

"Pleased to meet you," Serenity said, holding out her hand.

Kaiba shook it, smiling a little. "You're much more polite than you're brother."

"I've been told. Speaking of which, how did you survive four hours with him sitting next to you?" she looked impressed with him, either that or she was checking him out. Joey didn't want her to do that, so he quickly jumped in.

"Uh, he kind of fell asleep when we hit the freeway."

Kaiba rolled his eyes, "You try marking over fifty music exams in one night."

Serenity giggled, "Okay, no fighting! Mom's waiting inside, dinner is almost ready!"

"Is there enough for four?" Kaiba asked, hesitant to follow Joey and his sister up the driveway. Joey laughed, nodding his head.

"Come on, have you seen me eat? Mom always makes enough to fill the navy!" Joey grabbed hold of Kaiba without consent, towing him up the fornt steps and into the door.

"Mom! Joey's here!" Serenity yelled, bouncing down the hallway of the small house with glee. Joey missed watching her act like that, sighing with nostalgia. Kaiba gave him the eyebrow, but did nothing. That is, until Joey's mother rounded the corner, when he quickly yanked his arm out of Joey's hold. Brushing it off, Joey jumped at his mom.

"You've gotten so big!" she chuckled, hugging him and patting his cheek. She then noticed Kaiba, grinning at him. "My, what a handsome friend you've got!"

Joey watched Kaiba squirm under the complement, feeling himself blush at how adorable the taller man had just been. He quickly averted his gaze to his mother's red-brown-greying hair, smiling when he saw it's familiar old lady curls. "I'm sorry for the intrusion," Kaiba mumbled, looking at the ground. "I'm in a bit of predicament, and your son helped me get out of it by dragging me along."

"Do you have aything packed? And, no formalities, honey. I'm crap with that stuff!" the woman tutted, looking over Joey's shoulder so she could see Kaiba. Noticing her problem, Joey took a step backwards just as Kaiba took one forwards. They collided awkwardly, Joey's head dangerously close to the brunet's chin.

"Uh, to answer your question, no." Kaiba said, his gaze fixed on Joey's. He was looking down at him, smiling ever so slightly, and Joey found himself unable to move.

"Well, I'm sure Joey has some old stuff lying around." Joey's mother waved her hand, dismissively. "'Till then, let's eat!"

Dinner, to Joey, was outstanding. He had a small list of things he missed, and his mother's cooking was right on top. He knew it was rude to gobble down food like that on Christmas eve, but he was so hungry, he didn't care. Even Kaiba seemed to be pigging out, taking more than one helping of the salad that Joey's mom had doused in her special dressing (it was really just ranch dip and pepper). During the meal, they spoke of how their lives had been and mostly just caught up with each other. Serenity was eager to include Kaiba, making Joey suspect that she had a little crush on him. This made him incredibly mad; not because she was his sister and Kaiba shouldn't touch her, but because _she_ shouldn't go for Kaiba.

Joey almost choked when he realised why he was angry, coughing a bit, but forcefully swallowing the food. Kaiba, who was at his left, tentatively rested a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" He sounded as monotone as ever, but his eyes were narrowed in concern.

Going beet red, Joey nodded with embarrassment. Oh, god, why was Kaiba's hand so gentle? It made Joey's heart beat uncomfortably fast, and suddenly his head felt hot. It was like being drunk all over again, only more confusing.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Kaiba frowned, leaning in and brushing the hair off of Joey's forehead. Their skin collided, Kaiba's much cooler than his, and it took Joey a few seconds to realise Kaiba had just compared their tempature by pressing their heads together.

Jumping, Joey stumbled to the edge of his chair and looked back at his food. His mother and sister watched the exchange with confusion, and Kaiba merely raised a brow.

"So, who wants to hear Kaiba play piano? Mom, you've got a piano, right?" Joey quickly decided to distract everyone, though in the back of his mind, he just knew Kaiba was laughing at him on the inside. "Come on, let him play something festive!"

And so, the Wheeler family sat around the living room as Kaiba played a gorgeous cover of Jingle Bells, Joey singing along off-key with his sister. Things just became goofy from there on out, for Joey decided it was a grand idea to make Kaiba wear a santa hat. Before they knew it, Mrs. Wheeler was reenacting How The Grinch Stole Christmas with only her feeble memory, using Kaiba as her own personal cast. Joey cackled in delight as the brunet stumbled to catch up with the rhymes, making wild gestures with his hands to get more into character.

"Come on, Kaiba!" Joey applauded, clapping for his friend.

Kaiba shot him an amused glare, then grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "I nominate Wheeler- I mean Joey- for the part of Max the dog."

Joey pouted at him, then decided that the best approach was to pretend he wasn't bothered by it. "Woof!" Joey said, determined to seem like the winner. Kaiba's reaction was completely unexpected; first, his eyes widened, and then his face went bright red. To top it off, his clapped at hand over his mouth and looked like he was about to laugh.

Joey tilted his head to the side, making that weird sound dogs tended to make when they were confused (in the movies, at least). Kaiba glanced at him, his lips twitching upwards. "You look too cute, stop it." he whispered, so that only Joey could hear him.

Joey immediately lit up at that, his whole being growing warmer by the second. Kaiba thought he was cute! And here he was, getting all excited about it and forgetting about his family watching him. Quickly, Joey pretended to be a dog again, but this time something was different. Kaiba had actually humiliated him, but with a different approach. When the fun was over, Mrs. wheeler shooed her son and guest of to bed. It didn't surprise Joey that she did, 'Santa' still had to show up, after all. After rummaging around his old drawers, Joey managed to find a pair of old pajamas that he'd never really used before because they were too big for him, so he hoped they would fit his friend. After handing them to Kaiba, Joey noticed something over the brunet's shoulder. The bed was a single bed.

"Oh, god." Joey sighed, "I forgot that there's only one bed."

Kaiba shrugged, though his stoic expression was betrayed by a flicker of embarrassment. "Well, we've already shared a bed before, so this shouldn't be a problem." Kaiba cleared his throat, awkwardly. "I guess I'll go change."

Joey had already swapped clothes, so he let Kaiba go. Deciding that it was best to just forget it, Joey clambered into the sheets and smiled at the familiar warmth. He really had missed home, but part of him knew that he was equally fond of school. He wondered how his friends were, and how Yugi was holding up with The Pharaoh's flirting. Maybe he had produced a mistletoe and was trying to seduce him. Joey couldn't help but snort at the thought, earning him an amused chuckle from Kaiba.

Looking up to see his friend, Joey almost instantly wished that he hadn't. Kaiba's lean, pale figure in those slightly tight pajamas, well, it was bit too much for Joey to handle. "What are you laughing at?" Kaiba asked, as Joey burst into a fit of giggles. "I don't look that bad, do I?"

"N- no!" Joey choked out between laughs, covering his mouth before he started snorting.

Kaiba rolled his eyes, then cautiously got on the other side of the bed. Joey's laughter died down, now replaced with awkward and nervous chuckles. Kaiba was very careful to avoid touching him by accident, and slid under the covers.

Silence practically engulfed the room. Desprately wanting to say something, but ot wanting to break the peace, Joey decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Goodnight, Wheeler."

That just about did it; Joey's heart almost jumped out of his throat, and that weird, drunken feeling was back. Somehow, he manged to muster a reply. "G'night, Kaiba."


	7. In which, Mokuba rides a horse

The whole exchange of presents thing wasn't too bad, but Joey felt extremely guilty for not getting Kaiba anything and just towing him along. To make up for it, he decided that giving him a twenty dollar bill would suffice, and Kaiba gave Joey a coupon for the Subway restaurant on campus. After a nice breakfast, some chit chat, and a few laughs, Joey found himself saying his goodbyes. Serenity wasn't so keen on letting him leave, though.

"No, big brother, I want you to stay!" the teenager stomped her foot, pouting like a pro.

"Too bad, sis." Joey tittered, ruffling her hair. "Besides, I'll be back for spring break!"

She frowned at him, "But, Joey!"

"No buts!" he scolded, pulling her into a hug. "Don't worry, it'll be spring before you know it."

Finally accepting it, Serenity nodded into his shoulder. "Take care."

"You, too." Joey mumbled, letting her go.

"Kaiba!" Serenity called to the taller man, who was standing on the doorstep during the entire exchange. He walked forward, raising an eyebrow at her. "Make sure Joey doesn't die!"

Joey could feel Kaiba staring at him, "I will."

After waving them off, Serenity went back inside. Joey grinned as he walked down the driveway, "I guess we'll take the train back? There's a station not too far..."

Kaiba reached out and touched Joey's shoulder, turning him to face him. "Actually, I was wondering if I could ask a favor."

"Sure," Joey said, his heart swelling at the brief contact. What was wrong with him?

"Well, I told my brother I'd be visiting him on Ney Year's eve, but I figure we can still make it to Michigan if we try." Kaiba looked a bit desperate, "I haven't seen him in ages, and it's on the way back. If you want to go ahead, it's fine."

Joey smiled warmly, "Alright! I'll go with you; it's only fair."

Kaiba's mouth formed into a crooked smile, gratitude shining in his eyes. Joey had never really noticed how nice his eyes were, and mentally roundhouse kicked himself for thinking about it. This was getting out of hand; he wouldn't dare accept his attraction to his friend.

They ended up taking a train, then a taxi, and after many tiresome hours, Joey found himself going down the lane of a private road. He raised a brow at Kaiba, who just shrugged at it. That was when Joey spotted the mansion; in his defense, it was kind of hard to miss. The house looked like some old, Victorian manor, and there were even people working in the gardens. Joey's eyes bulged, staring up at the building in awe. "You live here?" he gasped.

"I used to," Kaiba said, then he pointed to the old barn that was a few acres away on the massive, golf field look-alike property. "My brother should be in there."

Joey opened his mouth to ask why, when out of the barn, a horse galloped into the field. It didn't look like it had a saddle on or anything, but there was clearly someone riding it.

"Okay, here's your stop." the taxi driver said, pulling the car to a hault. Kaiba pulled out a wad of cash from his wallet, handing it to him. The driver nodded at him, and Kaiba climbed out the door, tugging Joey after him.

"Don't look too surprised," he hissed quietly, You might get made fun of."

Joey decided to hide his shock with an impressed look, doing his best to seem unfazed by how much wealth his friend must have. He then felt a pang of shame, because he was pretty poor, now that he thought about it, and he obviously didn't belong in a place like this.

"Hey, quit it. You're here because I want you to be." Kaiba muttered, giving him a soft glare.

Joey blushed, ducking his head. Kaiba had seen right through him, as usual.

"BRO!" a high-pitched, excited voice cried, as a horse galloped into the front yard. Joey busied himself by getting his suitcase, finally allowing the cab to drive off. when he turned around, he saw a boy in his early teens sitting on the horse. He had wild, black hair, and an almost tanned skintone. He looked almost nothing like Kaiba, except for his big, blue eyes.

"Hello, Mokuba." Kaiba greeted, looking a bit friendlier than usual, but not by much.

"You're here early!" Mokuba exclaimed, swinging his other leg over the side of the horse that faced them. He then leapt off, jumping into his brother's arms. Kaiba caught him easily, spinning him only slightly before putting him on the ground. Mokuba didn't stop clinging to him, however, and held tight for a moment. Joey thought it was endearing, but Kaiba seemed a bit awkward with it, patting his brother on the head.

"I thought I'd surprise you," Kaiba said, when Mokuba finally let go.

Mokuba looked overjoyed, "I'm so glad you're back, Seto!" He then turned his head to Joey, beaming even more. "You brought a friend?! You have a friend? Please tell me this is a friend!" Mokuba blabbered, shaking Joey's hand while jumping up and down.

"This is Joey Wheeler," Kaiba sighed, sparring Joey an apologetic look. "Joey, this is my brother, Mokuba."

Joey stared down at the little bundle of energy, who smiled back up at him. He then chuckled, "Nice to meet you!"

"Whoa! You sound like one of those gansters from the movies Seto used to watch." Mokuba said, grinning from ear to ear. "Do you like videogames?"

"I love them," Joey smiled, letting the kid haul him up the stairs.

"Great! You, me and Seto can all play them!" Mokuba threw opened the door, kicking his shoes off. Joey followed suit, and made sure Kaiba hadn't been ditched. Thankfully, Kaiba seemed rather amused with the whole situation, and was right next to him.

The inside of the masion seemed even larger than the outside, with it's long, winding staircase, and the big, gorgeous paintings hanging from the wall. Joey let out a gasp of awe, wondering what on earth Kaiba's family had done to afford such a nice place.

He didn't have long to think it over, when Mokuba started pulling on his sleeves. "Come on, Joey, let's play Duel Monsters!"

"Oh, it is on like Donkey Kong!" Joey cried, following after Mokuba. He paused after two steps, turning back and looking at Kaiba. "C'mon!" he said, tilting his head like a dog, again. Kaiba sighed, then followed him with a laugh.

If anything, Mokuba was like the little brother Joey had never gotten. The little guy could talk hours on end, and was really happy to share everything he had with Joey, much to Kaiba's protests. He even seemed keen on getting Joey up on a horse, but the blond was quick to say no. Joey had never liked riding horses, not since a field trip gone wrong in the second grade. Pouting at him, Mokuba climbed aboard his own horse.

"Seto, you'll ride with me, right?" the young teen asked his brother, with a pout that challenged even the cutests of puppy-dogs.

"Fine," Kaiba let out a resigned sigh, walking into the stable. "I'll only go if Joey rides with me, though." He reasoned this without Joey's consent, grabbing him by the arm.

"Nyeh?!" Joey squeaked, "No way!"

Kaiba let out a huff, irritated with him. "I'm not going on one of these things by myself, Wheeler, they aren't as trained as what I'm used to."

Mokuba snickered, "I'll give you the tamest one, bro."

Turning to Joey with an almost pleading expression, Kaiba heaved a small sigh. "Please."

That was all it took; Joey's heart froze, his mind blanked, and all he could do was stare. Then, in a split second, his heart was pounding way too much, his head was full of thoughts, and he forced himself to blink. "Okay," he muttered, quietly. "I'll do it."

After many awkward limbs flailing about, Joey found himself on the back of a horse, with Kaiba sitting only a half of an inch in front of him. To make things even more uncofortable, Joey had to hold onto something, and all that was available to him was the waist of his friend.

"Why don't we take Joey around the grounds!" Mokuba suggested from his horse, where he looked like he was born sitting on it.

"Alright," Kaiba nodded, turning their horse around. It was a sweet looking brown one, and Joey's resentment towards riding it had lowered, but once it started moving, he was thrown into panic. With a gasp, Joey wrapt his arms tightly around Kaiba's lower torso, burrying his face in between his shoulderblades. "Uh, Joey, we haven't even moved, yet." Kaiba said, craning his neck to see the blond.

"Nyeh?" Joey whimpered, looking up frantically. "Are you serious?"

Kaiba let out a grumbly laugh, tugging on the reigns of the horse and breaking it into a run. Joey screamed, clung to Kaiba again, then frowned at him. "Stop it!"

"Look around," Kaiba said, keeping his eyes ahead. Disgruntled, Joey did as he was told. He had to admit that the property looked extremely pretty, with snow falling lightly onto the frosty grass, and that grand manor looking so brilliant in contrast with the lighting. Joey turned to say something to his friend, but his words caught in his throat. Kaiba's hair was blocking sunlight from getting in his eyes, but it was also shining with the light behind it. To top it off, the brunet had nice, slim soulders that made him look like a super model, especially with that nice view ahead of him. Blushing, Joey lightly rested his head back on Kaiba's shoulder blades, enjoying the view.

"Seto, come this way!" Mokuba called, as his horse trotted off in direction of the nearby woods. Kaiba gave their horse a tug, moving it towards his little brother.

"There's a trail, right?" Joey asked, unable to see over his taller friend.

"Probably," Kaiba shrugged, seemingly unfazed with the suddeness of his brother's request.

Joey decided it was best to just give up and trust the guy, relaxing as the horse galloped on. He then exclaimed, "Can we have hot chocolate after this?"

"Uh, sure..." Kaiba said, obviously holding back laughter.

"Sweet!" Joey cried, throwing a triumphant fist in the air. He didn't as feel bad about missing his movie tradition, now. "I hope it tastes good!"


	8. In which, we leave our story to end

**_A.N: I want to thank everyone who read this and enjoyed it! I've got a few upcoming oneshots for YuGiOh if you're interested. Chapter stories aren't my forte, so I'm glad you all stuck around to read it! Also, super cheesy/fluffy ending because shut up._**

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The next couple of days at the Kaiba mansion were some of the best days Joey had ever had; between Mokuba's hospitality, the giant flatscreen T.V, and Kaiba's company, Joey wasn't sure he ever wanted to leave. But, of course, New Years eve finally arrived, and he found himself seated in front of the previously mentioned flatscreen.

Mokuba, who had tried his best to stay awake, lay completely unconscious on the couch. Kaiba draped a blanket over his brother, sighing. "Only two more minutes," he noted, staring at the countdown on the television.

"Do you think we'll see any fireworks from here?" Joey asked, craning to see Kaiba from where he was seated on the ground.

"Maybe from the balcony, but I can't be sure." Kaiba shrugged, then he walked around the couch to sit next to Joey. "Either we take the chance out there, or watch them from the T.V."

Joey weighed his options, "Let's go outside."

And so, he and Kaiba stood at the railing of the balcony, snow falling lightly from the clouded sky. It was quite a sight to behold, but Joey only had the pale light from inside shining through the glass door. He enjoyed the silence that filled the air, used to Kaiba's demeanor by now, and let out a sigh. They would be going back to the University tomorrow, and the faint normality he had been holding onto was vanishing.

"Ugh, I wish I could just freeze time." Joey groaned, leaning forward on the balcony rail and ducking his head. "Then we'd be stuck here forever."

"That'd be pretty bad, considering it's snowing." Kaiba said, smiling slightly. "Though, this is a moment I could live with."

Joey blushed, looking towards the sky. "How much time do we have left?"

"About twenty-five seconds," Kaiba mumbled, peeking at his wristwatch.

"Sounds good," Joey laughed, beginning to count the numbers in his head.

"Eleven, ten, nine, eight," Kaiba listed, "Seven, six, five-"

Joey cut in, "Four!"

"Three," Kaiba shuffled a bit closer, his gaze fixed on the sky.

"Two..." Joey held his breath.

"One."

Sure enough, there were fireworks cracked in the distance, shooting up all at once. Joey applauded, and Kaiba smiled. Then, in one swift movement, the brunet leaned down and pecked Joey on the lips. Too fast for Joey to react, and not as long as he would have liked. Irritated, Joey seized Kaiba's turtleneck and forced their lips into each other again, making sure he got the message across.

It was incredibly cheesy, making out on New Year's day, with the fireworks on the horizon and everything. But, Joey could not have cared less. For a while, they just stayed like that, lips on lips, leaned up against the railing and not caring about anything; almost as if time really had frozen for them.

Then Kaiba pulled away, his normally calm expression in shock. "You...Why..._Huh_?!"

"Nyeh! I like you, you moron!" Joey exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "Seriously, you're the best person on earth, why does that make me so angry?!" He ground his fist into his hair, gritting his teeth, for he was admitting these feelings to himself as much as he was to Kaiba. "My heart hurts, and your eyes make my stomach all fluttery, and I think really girly, annoying things when I'm around you!" Joey took a deep breath, then straightened his posture. "And that's all I have to say!"

Kaiba took in the information, blinking in realisation. His face turned bright pink, and it looked like he was looking for something to say, but had no words. Joey let him take his time, still feeling embarrassed about what he had just yelled. Kaiba finally regained his equilibrium, let out a short breath, then took a step forward, standing right in front of the embarrassed blond. His hands took Joey's face in them, and his lips met the latter with ease.

"You are the most bitchy, funny, and by far the strangest person I have ever met." Kaiba said, cooly. "But you are also the most loyal, dorky, and lovable human on this planet. It's like your a humanized dog."

Joey frowned, though he was touched. "Get to the point."

"I'm saying, you are officially my dog now." Kaiba brought Joey into a surprisingly warm embrace, "No one else can have you."

"That was the weirdest way I've ever been asked out," Joey told him, raising an eyebrow as he returned the hug. "But, I accept."

"Good," Kaiba pulled back, turning the hug into a kiss. "Hm, maybe your mouth is better for more than just talking."

"You're ruining the moment, moneybags." Joey muttered, kissing his new boyfriend to shut him up.

Suddenly, the glass door opened, and out stepped a sleepy looking Mokuba. He blinked at the sight of Joey and his brother, who fumbled to get apart. "So, does this mean that Seto isn't asexual?" Mokuba looked so temendously relieved, Joey couldn't help but wonder if he was Kaiba's first love.

After a beat, they all laughed.

...

The campus was just how Joey remembered it, the trees, the courtyard, the students hanging upside down from their dorm windows, everything. He smiled, towing his suitcase across the pavement and towards his dorm, looking around to see if he recognised anyone. Marik and Bakura were seated on the roof of the main building, Bakura reading and Marik talking to his ear, and Mana, the girl who was in that club with Duke, was building a snowman with a tall guy with long, purple hair. Other than that, Joey didn't know the names of the other few students he had seen wandering campus before.

"WEEVIL, heh, WATCH OUT!" a short guy called out, rampaging through the snow to save that one blue-haired boy with a jetpack, who Joey had been calling 'Loony'.

Joey expertly ducked when the boy flew his way, shaking his head in amusement. It wasn't much longer until he reached his dorm, so he quickened his pace.

Sure enough, none other than Jaden Yuki (Joey had learned his last name during a game of poker) poked his head out of a pile of snow. "Shit, that's cold!"

"Uh, you okay?" Joey asked, holding out his hand to help the shorter brunet out.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to tear Syrus' throat out and give it to his girlfriend as a birthday present." Jaden said, a bit too sweetly.

Joey didn't question him and let him go, not surprised to see Yusei bound after him screaming: "Jaden, how many times do I have to tell you that beating up your roomate isn't the answer to everything?"

And, finally, Joey reached his dorm. He all but slammed the door behind him, wondering if that would do any good keeping the insanity out. Once he caught sight of Tristan, he decided that theory was flawed. "Hey, Tristan! How was your holiday?" he asked, grinning at his fellow dorm member.

"Duke ran around the resort half naked when he got drunk off the steam from the bath-house, but other than that, it was pretty normal." Tristan said, smiling. "We played monopoly, and I won eight times!"

Joey rolled his eyes, "Congratz."

"Thanks!" Tristan said, still unable to detect sarcasm.

"Did I hear Joey's voice?" Téa sounded from the dorm room, coming out of it with a grin. "I knew it! I'd recognise that Brooklyn accent a mile away!"

"You seem awfully chipper," Joey noted, smirking at her. "What? Did Kuriboh propose?"

"No! But he did offer that we'd live together," Téa grinned, crossing her arms. "We're looking at apartments to move into during the summer."

"That's great!" Joey clapped her on the shoulder, "Only problem is, what'll we do without your constant friendship speeches?"

"When she says she's 'moving out', it just means her stuff is going to leave us, but she'll still be here to irritate everybody!" The Pharaoh yelled from the dorm room.

Joey took off his shoes and wandered off to meet his other friends, who were in the same spots as usual. All except Yugi, who was lying on the ground and trying to solve a rubiks cube. "Hi, Joey!" the smallest of the dorm sat up, grinning.

"'Sup, Yugi?" Joey flopped on his armchair, wondering how his shorter friend's holiday had been. Had _he_ hooked up with anyone?

"The Pharaoh and Yusei got drunk and started making out!" Yugi didn't miss a beat, "Then Jaden broke it up declaring that Yusei belonged to him, but Yusei was too drunk to remember it, and he's completely oblivious that Jaden is in love with him!"

"Hey, he was hitting on me, first!" The Pharaoh cut in, looking mortified. "I wasn't in my right mind; my body moved on its own!"

Yugi gave him a pout, "Liar!"

"I'm not lying!" The Pharaoh whined, stomping his foot.

"Why are all the attractive men either gay or taken?" Téa asked no one in particular.

"Uh, in case you haven't noticed, I'm attrative, single, and pansexual." Duke said to her, twirling his hair. "Some friend you are."

"You don't count, you're too hot." Téa said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Yugi, I swear I'm not lying!" The Pharaoh ignored the other coversation, still trying to convince his almost identical friend.

"Prove it!" Yugi challenged, "I bet you an entire dinner that you have a boner for Yusei Fudo!"

"I do not!" The Pharaoh protested, looking around for help. "Joey, tell this fool that my feelings of attraction lie elsewhere!"

"Yug', when The Pharaoh was drunk that one time back in September, he asked about you." Joey blurted, unsure of what to do.

Silence overtook the room.

"Nyeh... He, uh, he asked if I thought you liked him." Joey continued, uncertainly.

The Pharaoh looked violated, "Not helpful, Joey!"

"Is this true, Yami?" Yugi turned to him, an eyebrow raised. "Because if he's lying, I'll break Tristan's kneecaps with a wrench."

"Hey!" Tristan cried, "What did I do?"

"Nothing, but Yami seems to like your kneecaps!" Yugi cried, slightly agitated.

"Actually, I couldn't care less if you enabled Tristan from walking." The Pharaoh shrugged, giving Tristan a shameless look. "But, Yugi, if you must know: I really do like you."

"As more than a friend?" Téa asked, seeming increduled that the confession had come out like that. Even Duke, who was normally looking at his nails during these conversations, seemed a bit surprised.

"Yes," The Pharaoh stood up, making his descision. "I, Yami, The Pharaoh Atem, am in love with Yugi Mutou. There, I have satisfied all you gossips."

Yugi, who had been silent since the threat of Tristan's kneecaps, stood up, too. The two of them faced each other for a painfully quiet moment, and then Yugi laughed. "Of course you'd confess like that, you big drama queen."

"So does this mean...?" The Pharaoh trailed off, looking at his feet.

"I did bet you an entire dinner," Yugi sighed, smiling up at him. "Let's go discuss this over some McDonalds, okay?"

"Okay," Yami nodded, watching Yugi leave the dorm room with an unreadable expression. He turned to the others, looking lost for a moment. Joey raised his fist up, as well as Tristan and Duke, and Téa mouthed 'good luck'. The Pharaoh turned to follow Yugi, but shot everyone a thumbs up before he vanished around the corner.

"Well it's about time!" Duke yelled, grinning widly.

"We did it!" Téa grabbed Tristan's hands, twirling in a circle. "We actually saw them get together!"

"I'm dating Kaiba!" Joey blurted, earning more squeals from the others.

"Why is everyone going out with everyone?" Tristan yelled, albeit laughing.

"Tristan, I love you!" Duke mock confessed, stealing him from Téa.

"I love you to!" Tristan cried, just as mockingly.

Joey laughed as the celebration took place, standing up to join his friends as they all danced like lunatics. They didn't even notice Yugi and Yami walk back in an hour later, for they were still partying without any music. The other boys shrugged and joined in, dancing with only the air as their song, and Joey finally accepted that he was just as crazy as everyone else.


End file.
